Mainers are by nature a good-hearted people, and they like to believe the best about others. That is why many of us will be shocked to learn that crime has increased steadily in Portland since 2002, and the rate of overall crime is now at a level higher than many other American cities, including Denver, Seattle, and (gulp) New York City.
Within the past several years, Portland has begun to show signs of urban blight. As late as 2002, graffiti was an unusual sight, and now every building and monument in the city is threatened by gang tags and other forms of urban 'art.'
Some graffiti is publicly sanctioned, as is the gigantic graffiti mural on Free Street.
In other cases, it is scrawled across works of modern art, erected at tax payer expense, as shown on the right. One particularly horrific
example was the graffiti on the monument to the veterans of the Spanish American War. The statue is in Edwards Park, and was recently cleaned. Other graffiti is scrawled on the columns which mark the entrance to Deering Oaks Park.
In Portland, the counter culture is an everyday way of life. At left is a photo of two self-proclaimed witches in full regalia, not visible in the photo. The jackets of both women read "Witch." .
Homosexuality and other forms of aberrant behavior are on proud display in Portland, home of Maine's "Gay Pride" parade, with its seven hundred foot long Rainbow Flag. The Rainbow Flag is everywhere in Portland. Certain bars cater exclusively to homosexuals, including the club called Styxx,
shown at below right.
Trash collectors are apparently overwhelmed in Portland. City streets were pristine in 2002, much cleaner than say, Manhattan or Chicago. Now litter and household trash is seen in every part of town, and when the wind blows, the garbage is simply blown down the streets. The photo at below left shows a common sight along lower Congress Street. Garbage is strewn throughout formerly beautiful Deering Oaks Park.
Evidence of crime is often seen, as in the photo below, where a smash and run burglar has smashed out the windows of a parked Audi. The sad thing about this photo is that the theft happened in broad daylight, across from the Eastland Park Hotel, and nothing was done about it. The car sat in that condition for hours, an open invitation for other criminals to do the same.
These photos taken on an average day in Portland are meant to illustrate the fact that the call for same sex marriage and other forms of sexual immorality is not happening in isolation. It is part and parcel of a society which calls itself progressive. But is it really progressive? Is it even Maine? These days, Portland looks like somebody put the city in reverse, and stepped on the gas.
